"Mitsuzuri-senpai!"
The girl who had been sent flying hit the ground hard, and Sakura Matou hurried to her side.
"Honestly... why did you suddenly come charging at me like that? Schoolgirls these days really are frightening."
The young man who had knocked Ayako Mitsuzuri away, Atrum, leisurely brushed back his golden bangs.
"I did not start this, you know. It was self-defense. I would rather not lay a hand on a beautiful young lady, but I told you not to resist, didn't I? Why won't you listen to an adult? Since you forced my hand, I suppose I'll have to teach you a lesson in place of your parents."
Atrum lightly clapped his hands together as if dusting them off, looking down at Sakura Matou and Ayako Mitsuzuri a short distance away.
Although Ayako Mitsuzuri was still a minor, she was already an extremely skilled martial artist.
She served as an assistant instructor at a local karate dojo in Fuyuki, and on top of that, she had studied various other martial arts as well.
So her decision to stop running and launch the first attack against Atrum had not been wrong.
After all, just moments ago, Atrum had been so frightened by Shirou that he could not even move, standing there and nearly getting taken out in an instant.
However, being powerless against Shirou Amamiya did not mean Atrum was an incompetent Magus.
On the contrary, even among Magi, he belonged to the kind who was both belligerent and skilled in battle.
Ayako Mitsuzuri might be close to superhuman among ordinary people, but she could not possibly match Atrum, who had survived and triumphed in a hereditary war among Middle Eastern nobles, a war of brothers killing brothers.
Galliasta's subordinates, who followed Atrum, also appeared behind him.
After all, none of them wanted to stay on a battlefield where Shirou and Aoko were present. If a stray shot hit them, no number of lives would be enough.
"Now then, little ladies, it's time to surrender... before you end up crippled."
Atrum spoke with a relaxed smile.
He thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of holding another person's freedom and life firmly in his hands.
He had suffered humiliation at Shirou's side earlier, so now he intended to recover his dignity here.
The brown-skinned young man said, "As long as you stop resisting and behave..."
"You're Senpai's enemy, aren't you?"
"What?"
Atrum's forehead twitched at having his speech interrupted.
Then, to his surprise, he realized the one who had spoken was not the karate girl who had attacked him earlier, but the purple-haired girl she had been protecting.
Sakura Matou stared at Atrum and repeated herself.
"You're Senpai's enemy, aren't you?"
The instant he met those deep purple eyes, Atrum felt as though his spine had frozen over.
What is this?
I was actually intimidated by a little girl like her?
A gloomy, withdrawn-looking girl who seems like she has no will of her own?
Atrum clenched his teeth and snorted. "...What is your name?"
"Matou... My name is Sakura Matou."
The girl stood as she spoke.
"Hey... Sakura... don't..."
Ayako Mitsuzuri grabbed the hem of her clothing, but Sakura Matou smiled and shook her head.
"It's all right, Senpai... Leave the rest to me."
She used the suggestion Magecraft Shirou had taught her, putting Ayako Mitsuzuri, who was already exhausted, to sleep.
"Matou... I see... so you're..."
Hmph, Atrum frowned.
Galliasta was an ancient family centered around curses.
No Magus who studied curses could be unaware of the name Makiri.
Because Makiri's specialty was not orthodox Western Magecraft but curses, his research was not valued by the Magecraft world of his time. In the end, the Clock Tower only evaluated him at the rank of "Pride."
But in the world of curses, he was a legend in the truest sense, his fame spreading from Eastern Europe all the way to the Middle East.
Though that had already been several hundred years ago.
"A descendant of Makiri... the Matou family. Did they not perish in the ritual eight years ago?"
Sakura Matou replied calmly, "Grandfather did die eight years ago, but the Matou family did not perish...
"As you can see, I am the heir to the Matou family."
"..."
The corners of Atrum's mouth lifted into a smile.
Plan change.
In addition to the goal of this trip to Japan, "take Shirou Amamiya away," he would add another objective. "Acquire the Matou family's research."
"So that's how it is! You are the young lady of the Matou family! My, I was terribly rude just now!"
"Please allow me to apologize, Miss Sakura Matou."
"If you had given your name sooner, I would not have treated your companion so discourteously."
As he spoke, he placed a hand over his abdomen and bowed deeply.
Sakura Matou remained unmoved.
After all, while Atrum looked like he was apologizing sincerely, the killing intent around him had not faded in the slightest.
The brown-skinned young man raised his head and made his proposal.
"Miss Sakura Matou, why don't we make a deal? Would you be interested in..."
"...I refuse."
Sakura Matou cut him off.
Atrum was stunned, and then his expression chilled at once. "I had not even finished speaking. How very rude of you, Miss Sakura Matou."
"I will not make any deal with Senpai's enemy," the purple-haired girl said coldly.
"......"
Atrum shook his head in disappointment.
He had already lost count of how many times he had been rejected today.
Ever since inheriting the seat of Galliasta's head, he had never heard a single "no" directed at him again.
But today, he had been rejected, rejected, and rejected again.
"Very well... If you insist, then there is nothing to be done."
"Allow me, Atrum Galliasta, to play with you for a while, Miss Sakura of the Matou family."
As he said this, the young man reached into the inner pocket of his suit.
What he took out was an object shaped like a small jar.
"Primeval Battery... does that mean anything to you?"
The world's oldest battery was discovered in ruins on the outskirts of the Middle East.
Scholars judged that the people of that era likely did not understand the structure of a battery, and that it had been a gilding tool developed through a series of coincidences. However, that same structure had also been passed down through Magecraft, developing along a path completely separate from science.
When one of the families researching the Primeval Battery fell into decline, Galliasta used money to buy the Primeval Battery along with its history.
Galliasta had originally studied ore and Transmutation Magecraft, so the form of the Primeval Battery was quite convenient for them.
Sure enough, they succeeded in adding their own Mana to electricity.
By controlling a "power" that had been revered in many lands since ancient times as divine might or the voice of the gods, the Galliasta family had long enjoyed prosperity and could even command the local weather.
"Gush Out."
With Atrum's whisper, pale lightning began to surge.
The lightning took the shape of a giant hand, slamming down toward Sakura Matou's small body.
"......It's all right."
The girl once again used the suggestion Magecraft she had learned from her beloved Senpai. This time, she used it on herself.
I can do this.
I may not be as good as my sister, but I am a Magus too.
I can perform Magecraft.
Even if it is a forbidden spell that should never be used, I can control it... because I've worked hard too!
Just as the giant hand of lightning was about to swallow the girl, Sakura Matou parted her lips and murmured.
"Es erzahlt, Mein Schatten nimmt Sie! (The voice is in the distance, my feet are wrapped in green grass.)"
In an instant, with Sakura Matou's position at the center, the ground turned into a pitch-black plane.
"Es befiehlt, Mein Atem schliesst alles! (The voice is beyond, my cage confines the world.)"
Immediately afterward, countless black bands shot out from that pitch-black plane.
They were a substance that did not exist in the present world.
They possessed no mass of their own, yet one could also say they possessed infinite mass.
Yes. They were like shadows.
This was the power Sakura Matou possessed as a Magus.
The rarest attribute among Magi, Imaginary Numbers.
No matter what kind of existence her opponent was, even lightning without a physical form was no exception.
The pitch-black shadows bound the pale giant hand in midair, along with the lightning's power and heat.
"Guh...?"
A drop of cold sweat slid down Atrum's cheek.
Normally, when two spells collided, they produced a violent clash.
Even if their forms differed, as long as they were released as Mystery, they could not defy the fundamental rule, the stronger Mystery would overwhelm the weaker.
If that had happened, Atrum would have won.
In terms of raw spell power, there were very few Magi in the world who could compare with his lightning.
He often likened his own Magecraft to a single strike from the genius witch of Greek mythology, Medea.
But this time, there was nothing he could do.
That was Sakura Matou's Imaginary Magecraft.
It captured her opponent while ignoring Mystery and power alike, dragging them into a world of empty despair, the Imaginary Number Space.
Originally, Sakura Matou could not use Magecraft on her own.
Her Magecraft was simply too unusual.
Those pitch-black shadows were, in truth, negative energy born from the dark side of the girl's subconscious.
If she carelessly drove that power, it would essentially push the human part of her toward destruction.
Magecraft like that should not even exist. It could only be called taboo.
However, Shirou Amamiya, her Senpai, had smiled and accepted Sakura's negative side.
"I think this is an incredible power," he had said.
"This is Sakura's own power, so there is no need to be ashamed of it."
Shirou had seen Sakura Matou's determination to become a Magus. He did not reject Sakura's "Imaginary Numbers," but searched for a solution together with her.
"Right, let me teach Sakura a spell that can protect her."
Shirou taught Sakura Matou the Magecraft of "self-suggestion."
"If it ever reaches the point where you have no choice but to use Imaginary Magecraft, use suggestion on yourself first."
"That way, Sakura can protect her human heart."
After that, Sakura Matou practiced suggestion Magecraft over and over, and before long, she had even surpassed Shirou in it.
At that level, it could no longer be called "self-suggestion." It was a true "self-seal."
But what supported Sakura Matou's conviction was not Magecraft. It was Senpai's kindness.
Good. I can win!
Sakura Matou was certain of her victory.
Although her skill in Magecraft was far inferior to her opponent's, the current her could defeat this man with a "First-Encounter Kill".
"This isn't over...!"
Atrum could not accept the fact that he was being suppressed by a middle school girl.
Burning with rage, he roared and gave a brief order to the subordinates behind him.
The Magi in military uniforms immediately performed a group ritual spell.
In the blink of an eye, dark clouds covered the sky above Shinto.
Low thunder rumbled, and a torrential downpour began to fall onto the street.
This was the weather-support Magecraft the Galliasta family excelled at most.
The overwhelming power created by the combination of rain and thunder was common knowledge to every Pokémon player.
And in Japan's temperate climate, they could actually draw out this Magecraft's true strength better than they could in the desert.
"Ugh...!"
Sakura Matou staggered, then dropped to her knees.
She pressed a hand to her chest and barely managed not to cough up blood.
The sudden downpour had caused her Imaginary Magecraft to lose its effect.
Since those shadows were things that did not exist upon the surface in the first place, it was only natural that they would grow fragile and impossible to maintain under such a drastic change in the environment.
As a Magus, Sakura Matou was still far from mature.
Every raindrop that fell onto the shadows sent a violent backlash from the depths of her Magic Circuits.
The pain made it almost impossible for her to stand, let alone continue fighting.
Even Atrum himself had not expected a mere rainstorm to reverse a battle that had been going against him.
He did not let the opportunity slip by and activated a new round of Magecraft.
He refined several times more Mana than before, drove his Magic Crest, and poured it all into the spell of the Primeval Battery.
The spell Galliasta had purchased converted that Mana into massive lightning with maximum efficiency.
With the support of the torrential rain, the lightning spell resembled a great dragon.
Anyone who saw it would have the illusion that a gigantic beast had once again descended upon Fuyuki.
Just as the Dragonkind born from thunder opened its massive jaws and displayed its majesty.
"Oh, that's pretty impressive. I'll be your opponent."
A boy's voice sounded from behind Atrum.
"Senpai...!" Sakura Matou shouted.
How... is that possible...?
Trembling, Atrum turned around and saw the red-haired boy.
Shirou Amamiya... Wasn't he supposed to be fighting the Fifth Magician?
Why was he here?
No, no matter how he thought about it, there was only one possibility. Aoko Aozaki had lost!
It was hard to believe, but that was the only explanation. The Fifth Magician had actually lost!?
Shirou walked over, full of energy, but…
In the next second, the lightning Atrum had been about to release, along with the dark clouds covering the sky above the entire street, scattered and vanished as easily as thin paper being torn apart.
"Hm? Why did you stop the spell yourself? Not going to keep fighting?"
Shirou walked leisurely up beside Atrum and asked.
"........."
The brown-skinned young man said nothing. Sweat began seeping from his forehead, cheeks, and back.
Shirou smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Thanks for taking care of my classmate and underclassman."